There are now only six northern white rhinos left. Due to extreme difficulties in breeding, it would seem that his death signals the end of the northern white. Unfortunately, this is becoming an all too familiar trend.

In 2011, two different subspecies of rhino were declared extinct: the Javan rhino in Vietnam, and the western black rhino once found throughout central and western Africa. The black rhino, originally consisting of four subspecies, numbered over a million at the beginning of the twentieth century. By 2001, there were only 2,300 left. The black rhino population dropped by 98 percent between 1960 and 1995. Poaching is largely responsible for this drastic decrease in the population.

On May 15, 2014, the FWS revised the law to allow an exemption on the use of ivory for traveling exhibitions and musicians. The last remaining argument for the legal trade of ivory and rhino horn is that it limits the trade of antiques. However, it is nearly impossible to tell the difference between antiques and new rhino horn/ivory. This often leads to illegal animal items being traded right alongside antiques.